Traffic volume continues to increase in urban areas. This ever increasing volume of traffic continues to impede emergency vehicle transits in an already crowded city. One very important capability for emergency responders piloting a vehicle through a city is the ability to control a traffic light directly in their path. Many systems involving communications have been proposed to instantiate this capability but they are all subject to various problems including interference and the need for periodic maintenance of some of the vehicle electronics.
There is therefore a need for a system that is robust to interference, does not require periodic maintenance, such as the replacement of batteries, and does not require a significant effort on the part of the emergency responders to control the traffic lights, and is, majorly decentralized.